Facebook Deals marks 'changing brand-user relationship' 

Tuesday, February 01 2011 by John Burns

Facebook Deals has been launched in the UK and a number of companies have already introduced special offers in a bid to boost interest in their brand.

The social networking site sees this as a natural continuation of its existing commercial advertising strategy, having also launched the technology in Germany, Italy, France, Canada and Spain.

However, it also reflects the growing view of Facebook and probably a handful of internet consultants: marketing and brand awareness across social media is increasingly being influenced by the "wisdom of friends".

Facebook Deals is fairly revolutionary in the respect that it uses a relatively simple mobile internet system to produce immediate benefits for both customers and marketers alike.

Made possible as a result of the recently launched Facebook Places applications for smartphones, users are encouraged to 'check in' when they enter a shop or are at an event to take advantage of special offers, such as freebies or discounts.

In turn, marketers are provided with some publicity on Facebook, where the Places app updates a person's status explaining what they are doing and - more importantly - what shop or event they are at.

Speaking to the Guardian, Facebook director of local Emily White explained that the new Deals technology allows businesses to start joining in with people's conversations on the social networking site.

"The wisdom of friends has taken over from the wisdom of crowds, through a highly personal experience in the real world, and Facebook local enables users to take that Facebook identity out and about with them as they experience the real world - likewise using that to inform that Facebook identity," she told the newspaper.

However, the technology has also proved controversial, with many critics suggesting that the Places technology provides an internet audience with too much information about a person's whereabouts.

The question is, will this affect adoption in the UK?

Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet".